SNM neutron detection using a time-gated synthetic aperture hybrid approach

• Main Author: Molinar, Matthew P.
• Other Authors: Sjoden, Glenn E.
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: Georgia Institute of Technology 2014
• Subjects: PENTRAN; Deterministic; 3-D; 3D neutron; Transport; Detection; Time-gated; Aperture; Neutron counters; Computer simulation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1853/50212

This work focuses on using forward and adjoint transport in a hybrid application of 3-D deterministic (PENTRAN) and Monte Carlo (MCNP5) codes to model a series of neutron detector blocks. These blocks, or “channels,” contain a unique set of moderators with 4 atm He-3 proportional detectors tuned to detect and profile a gross energy spectrum of a passing neutron (SNM) source. Ganging the units together as a large area system enables one to apply time gating the source-detector response to maximize signal to noise responses from a passing source with minimal background; multiple units may be positioned as a collective synthetic aperture detector array to be used as a way of performing real time neutron spectroscopy for detecting special nuclear materials in moving vehicles.